The Flash recap: Repercussions of the Enlightening are finally revealed

On the latest episode of The Flash, answers to the many questions raised by the Season 4 Finale were finally shown to the audience. What they reveal is a new age of metahumans has taken hold in Central City.

When The Flash Season 5n Episode 4 kicks off, the team takes a small break from hunting down Cicada to enjoy a local softball game hosted by Central City Police Department. Barry is called in to substitute for a player but he’s not very good, at all. He can’t use his speed in the friendly game, which puts Barry at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Team Flash’s cheer squad in the bleachers get to know each other a little better. Cecile and Caitlyn try to make Nora feel comfortable by becoming involved with her life and it works. That is until Iris attempts to get in on the action.

Iris shares a bit of insight into a new reporter that Nora has her eyes on but the young speedster isn’t at all receptive to Iris’ input. Nora actually throws some verbal jabs at her mother, becoming very noticeable to both Cecile and Caitlyn. Neither of them jumps to Iris’ defense but that was because they could sense the troubled relationship Nora and Iris are working through.

On the field, Barry is overly concerned with performing that he doesn’t notice a mystery man walk onto the field. The man has a backpack on his arm and appears to be up to no good. Nora notices and speeds off to stop him, launching his backpack in the air before it detonates. The situation is resolved without any injuries but now Team Flash has a bomber to interrogate.

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After the bombing incident, Team Flash reconvenes to discuss what happened on the field. They don’t understand why a good-mannered police officer would steal an explosive device with the intent of detonating at a public event and neither does the officer. He attempts to convince Barry and the others that he was brainwashed but no one believes him. Barry then looks into the possibility of a metahuman factoring into the situation.

Midway into the interrogation, a fire breaks out in the city and first responders are too far away to address the emergency. Barry and Nora decide their help is needed and head to the scene.

When they arrive at the burning building, Barry is coaching Nora through the steps needed to stop a blaze of that magnitude. Barry is giving her all these pointers then suddenly runs off. No one on the team knows why and Barry doesn’t answer his communicator.

Left alone, Nora has to deal with the fire by herself. She’s afraid of what’ll happen if she fails but Iris walks her through a speedster’s tutorial on how to stop fires. The coaching works and Nora is able to put the flame out with little difficulty.

As for Barry, he found himself running to Las Vegas for no apparent reason. He doesn’t know exactly what happened but figures he was manipulated by a new metahuman in the city. Barry’s assumptions are correct but only partially.

Back at Star Labs, Team Flash tries to determine who the new metahuman is. They come to the conclusion that Spencer Young is responsible for the latest disasters in Central City. One of her early reports on Nora’s rescue proves she had previous knowledge of the crimes being committed. Iris is the one who exposes Spencer’s identity but Nora refuses to believe her.

The team deliberates over the possibility of Spencer being a new metahuman but can’t come to a definitive answer so they send Nora to interact with Spencer in hopes that they can scan dark-matter readings off the enthusiastic reporter. When Nora meets with Spencer at Jitters, she’s a bit flustered and out of sorts. Spencer is very friendly with Nora, even joking a little.

The jokes soon turn to flirting and Nora becomes distracted by her attraction to Spencer. Iris and Barry are monitoring the scene and can sense what’s happening between them so they intervene.

With Nora and Spencer deep in their chat, Iris walks into the coffee shop in hopes of stopping them. She approaches Nora, vaguely alluding to the task at hand while playing it cool. Nora still in a daze doesn’t act immediately but manages to scan Spencer for dark-matter readings. Spencer is puzzled by the “relationship” Iris and Nora share so she heads out once the scan is completed.

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After Spencer leaves, Iris confronts her daughter over the cold shoulder Nora has been giving her. With no other option than to face the troubled past/future she shares with Iris, Nora finally reveals the deep dark secret that’s kept her from bonding with present-day Iris West Allen.

Apparently, the future version of Iris embeds a power dampening chip into Nora’s body to hide the fact that she’s a metahuman. Nora found out about the chip, removed it, and decided the time was right to visit her father in the past.

In the present-day, Iris is shocked by the news. She doesn’t know how to respond and thankfully doesn’t have to as Nora speeds off shortly after. Iris speaks with Barry about the conflict and he reassures her that whatever her motives were, it must have been for a good purpose — even if Nora disagrees.

In the midst of this conflict, another alarm is raised. A bomb threat is called in at the local sports stadium so Barry goes to investigate. Barry arrives to find there’s no device in the building and suspects foul play. It’s then that the digital displays in the stadium begin to read “Xs kills the Flash”.

The signs cause Nora to stop what she’s doing and race to the stadium. She joins Barry and immediately tries to make the signs’ predictions come true, attempting to kill Barry Allen. She almost succeeds but is successfully stopped by Iris and a tranquilizer gun.

After the stadium incident, Team Flash figures out that digital devices are being used to manipulate them. The team still can’t determine exactly how the devices are capable of such power without a metahuman’s manipulation. Fortunately, Ralph and Sherloque’s investigation provides some clues.

Throughout “News Flash”, Ralph Dibny and Sherloque Wells quietly investigate the minimal clues they have on Cicada. Ralph and Sherloque track down every lead, hoping that something will lead them to Cicada’s whereabouts. Their search appears to be for naught until an epiphany is made.

In all his infinite wisdom, Sherloque reasons out that the satellite crashing in Central City had an alternate effect on the timeline because of Nora’s interference. At the same time, the debris created by its explosion dispersed in different directions, causing people and tech to be affected by the dark matter.

Individuals like Cicada were struck by debris, granting them abilities, but the objects closest to them were equally affected. In Cicada’s case, it was his dagger and that weapon was presumably a piece of the satellite before its destruction. The wound in Cicada’s chest glows with the same illuminated light as his dagger, making it safe to say the object was embedded into him during the satellite crash.

Team Flash learns that Cicada’s dagger isn’t the only piece of tech infected with dark matter after their final confrontation with Spencer Young. They discover her phone was responsible for all the weird happenings around the city. Spencer was using the device for her own manipulative purposes but the tech was mainly responsible. The episode closes out with Team Flash wondering how many more pieces of metahuman tech are still unaccounted for.

The Flash airs Tuesdays on The CW.